How did you choose your current/main amp?

  • Thread starter Thread starter maddnotez
  • Start date Start date

What helped you decide?

  • Youtube/Recorded Audio

    Votes: 35 36.8%

  • Hands on

    Votes: 51 53.7%

  • Word of mouth

    Votes: 27 28.4%

  • Other

    Votes: 23 24.2%
  • Total voters
    95
maddnotez

maddnotez

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Well-known member
Was two for me, mainly you tube to narrow it down, then GC happened to have one locally I could play to seal the deal.

Edit: Kudos to SAH, as your video was the most viewed.
 
It's pretty much always recording clips, YouTube, and some word of mouth through the internet. I don't have the luxury of living in a populated area where shops carrying anything worth owning.
 
I chose to send my amp to Dave F. after watching James Lugo's LA Amp Shootout and hearing the KS mod on a 71' Plexi. Best decision I've ever made.
 
Honestly? Word of mouth....guys I knew that had tone I respected let me know. Played one, but it was a formality. Bought it after playing it...love the low mids; just got me.
 
I had the Axe FX Ultra before I bought the Axe FX 2.
It was a logical next step- couldn't be happier with the rig- it sounds amazing and is very portable.
 
It's usually a combination of all three for me. Generally, it starts from word of mouth....then I hear a couple of youtube clips......and eventually I get my hands on it to make the final determination.
 
youtube, internet clips, RigTalk and other amp forums are the main source
 
I chose mine after playing it. Although it took many years after I first played it to actually get it.
I played a Mark IV at the Hollywood Mesa/Boogie store back when they first came out. I didn't have the cash for one so i stuck with my trusty Studio Preamp rig.

Abou12 or 13 years later I was looking to ditch the rack and cab set up and get a combo. I was looking at the DC5 or F50 since they were more affordable. I stumbled on a floor model wide-body MKIV combo at a Guitar Center for a steal. I didn't ask, I just told my wife, I have to buy this.

Scott
 
Word of mouth.

When I chose my main amp Youtube didn't exist yet and there wasn't much in the way of audio demos on the internet.

Basically, back in the day I didn't know jack shit about gear. I was originally going to get a Marshall because that's what people where I'm from bought when they stepped up from a Crate or Peavey. I was asking around about Marshalls when someone suggested I use the internet to research what gear was being used by bands I liked and I learned that most of them were using Mesas. I wound up buying a Recto because I couldn't afford a Mark IV. A few years later I happened across a used Mark III and snatched it up too.

I don't own either of those amps any more but I'm still using Rectos (Roadster) and Marks (Mk V) as my main amps.
 
If I had to decide on a guitar amp from a Youtube video I would probably start playing the bass instead. Tone finder has much better clips if you want to use the Internet to find out what an amp can sound like. Word of mouth is always good too I guess.
 
I almost always play an amp first, but in this poll I voted "Other" based on how I got my main gigging amp. After about a year with an AxeFx Ultra, I realized that I used the Marsha model for almost all of my dirty tones. When a trade opportunity presented itself, I went for it...best trade I ever made :thumbsup:
 
I found mine in a luthier's shop... It was his acoustic amp... It's a Mesa Studio 22... It loves me.
 
Hands on ..... I would never consider any other method.

I use the other stuff mentioned to become interested in going to check out stuff for hands on. My experience is clips & other peoples opinions have little to do with what works for me. When I lived in areas where it was not easy to check out several amps I would get together with other local players & travel across states to go check out the stuff. I do not really have a main amp. I have several I use depending on my needs at the time.
 
It was a combination of recorded audio and hands on. I had a sound in my head and I couldn't quite achieve it, it was similar to Petrucci's liquid lead tone. I also wanted more gain in my rhythm tones. I found out that Petrucci has used Mark series amps and eventually a Mark III blue stripe showed up on the local market in March of this year.

I tried it a couple times in the store. While I had no idea how to dial it in, I was able to confirm there was plenty of gain (more available that I typically use), good cleans, and that with the GEQ I'd have far more control over my tone than I have ever had before. Last step was posting here and confirming the price was fair, getting some settings, and some advice here. I went back tried some of the settings and was able to confirm the Mark III was capable of getting me where I wanted to go.
 
I sold a Triaxis & 2:Ninety rig. Was looking for something classy on par with the old rig. High gain, versatile, etc. Realized I liked the Marshall tones more than Mesa. VHT came up a lot on forums. Found a VHT Pittbull 45 cheap on Harmony Central. Bought it without ever hearing clips of one or seeing/playing one in person. Total roll of the dice. Found out after I bought it that it's their 'low-gain' amp but I had to stick a 12AT7 in it to get to max out in the lower high-gain/upper mid-gain range. Absolutely love it. So much more happy with it than the Triaxis rig.

Generally, I go by Youtube clips and hands-on though. This VHT was just destiny.
 
Forums -> Youtube. I forgot to check "other" meaning forums, not sure I would've found as much with just Youtube alone. I joined some forums like RT after I got back into playing guitar this year, learned a lot (and still learning) about gear. Many, many threads later reading about various high gain amps I stumbled upon the one on the 2010 LA amp fest: super useful in hearing some great amps not all known to the mainstream against each other, epic effort to pull all that off. :thumbsup:

Buying an amp without having first tried it is fairly risky and not my preferred way of choosing gear since even the best recordings can't give you the feel of a live rig, but I took the plunge anyway on the Rhodes Colossus after the videos I've watched on it and have been very happy ever since (thanks, Kyle!). Despite what I said about try-before-buy I also bought a guitar over the 'net and that has also worked out well, maybe I'm onto something here! Really I can't see myself being able to play all the great amps out there every time I discover something new so I rely on the efforts of video and clip posters, so for all you with the gear and time, keep up the good work! If I'm ever in the market again for a high end amp I'd like to plan a vacation around one of the various amp shows I've been reading about.
 
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